Healthcare (Clinical)29-1141.03Specialization

Critical Care Nurses

Provide specialized nursing care for patients in critical or coronary care units.

$86,070
Median Pay
4-6 years
Training
🟒
AI-Resilient

This is a specialization of

Registered Nurses

Career Overview Video

AI Impact Assessment

AI Resilience Score

Score 5/6: low AI task exposure, strong human advantage provides strong protection from AI displacement (estimated from legacy data)

🟒AI-Resilient

How we calculated this:

AI Exposure
Low+2

11% of tasks can be accelerated by AI

Job Growth
Stable+1

0% projected (2024-2034)

Human Advantage
Strong+2

EPOCH score: 22/25

Total Score5/6
Methodology: v2.0 - GPTs are GPTs / BLS / EPOCH Additive ScoringUpdated: 2026-01-09

Key Responsibilities

  • Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs.
  • Monitor patients for changes in status and indications of conditions such as sepsis or shock and institute appropriate interventions.
  • Administer medications intravenously, by injection, orally, through gastric tubes, or by other methods.
  • Monitor patients' fluid intake and output to detect emerging problems, such as fluid and electrolyte imbalances.
  • Prioritize nursing care for assigned critically ill patients, based on assessment data or identified needs.
  • Compile and analyze data obtained from monitoring or diagnostic tests.
  • Conduct pulmonary assessments to identify abnormal respiratory patterns or breathing sounds that indicate problems.
  • Assess patients' pain levels or sedation requirements.
  • Collaborate with other health care professionals to develop and revise treatment plans, based on identified needs and assessment data.
  • Document patients' medical histories and assessment findings.

Education & Training

Typical Entry Education

Bachelor's degree

Time to Job Ready

4-6 years

Based on Job Zone 4. For formal education duration only, see education_duration.

Technology Skills

EHR systems (Epic, Cerner)Critical care monitoring systemsMedication administration softwareVentilator management systemsClinical documentation tools

Key Abilities

Oral ComprehensionProblem SensitivityOral ExpressionDeductive ReasoningInductive ReasoningSpeech RecognitionSpeech ClarityWritten ComprehensionWritten ExpressionInformation Ordering

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Compensation Details

$63,720
10th Percentile
$86,070
Median
$132,680
90th Percentile

Based on 3,175,390 employed workers

Also Known As

Cardio ICU RN (Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)CCU RN (Cardiac Care Unit Registered Nurse)CCU RN (Critical Care Unit Registered Nurse)Certified Critical Care NurseCritical Care Nurse (CCN)Critical Care Nurse PractitionerCritical Care Nurse SpecialistCritical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN)Critical Care Unit NurseICU Critical Care NP (Intensive Care Unit Critical Care Nurse Practitioner)

Data from O*NET 30.1 and BLS Occupational Employment Statistics

O*NET Code: 29-1141.03